Indicator for invertible vessels.



J. LIGH'rPooTl mlcuon ron mmm vmsELs.

APPLIOATIOI FILED IAY 8, 1908.

910,698. Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

Lio

unpTTED sTATEs `PATENT oEEioE. i i :i ,JoENLiGiiTFioonc-)F-AoeEnvG'roN, ENGLAND. I A

sheet of drawings, is a speciiication.

In connection with vessels which are to be kept or maintained inone position for a period and are then to be turned'over or inverted to be 'brought into use after which they equire readjustment, eitherv of their conte ts or parts in connection therewith,

l before being replaced in their former posi` tions, it is most desirable to have indicating means which will show when and whether such vessels have been inverted. Especially is this the case in connection with. portable iire extinguishing apparatus or extincteurs of the class which when not in use have to be' kept in a certain erect position and which, on being brought into use, have to be in verted to allow the iiow of certain liquids contained thereby as is well understood and it is to this class of apparatus that my said invention most particularly relates and it is in connection with same that I have illus'- trated it in the accompanying sheet of'drawings from the following description of which its appli-cation to other vessels to be similarly handled will readily be understood.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing portable fire extinguishing apparatus with my indicator mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of my indicator drawn to a'n enlarged scale, the vessel upon which it is fixed being shown as cut away, Fig. 3 is side elevation oi arts shown by Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view of t e parts shown by Fig. 2, as seen from above. Fig. is a similar view to Fig. 2 but shows my indicator in section. Figs. 3, Lland 5- are drawn same scale as Fig. 2. As is well known the inversion of the vessel a at any timel when charged .with the` proper contents for fire-extinguishing purposes, causes chemical actions or re-actions to be brought about, so that such inversion ought never to take place until it is desired to bring the apparatus into actual use Jfor extinguishing a fire, and my invention consist-s in the application oi inea-ns thereto that will clearly and readily indicate whenever l said apparatus has been invertedvwhether accidentally or otherwise in order that with- I I Specification of Letters Patent.

. Application filed May 8, 1906. Serial N o. 315,846.

^ extinguisher.

y Patentes Jaa. 2e, 190e.'

out disturbing said apparatus in anyway, those responsible for their etlicient use, or others, may easily see whenever they have been detrimentally interfered with.

To attain the object of my invention I mount a glass or other transparent tube b in bearings c, d which support it invertical alinement with the vessel a. Within this tube b I place a ball or sphere f which will roll or move freely within same, and I arrange the upper bearings c to behollow or to form a cavity g so thatfby the end t of said. tube b projecting within said cavity g for a certain distance as shown (or by forming the projecting part b integrally with or fixed to the bearing c instead of same being an extension of the tube b), on theball or sphere f being caused to travel along saidl tube b, as it would by the apparatus or vessel c being inverted, until it reached the cavity g, it would then enter saine and fall or move from being opposite the orifice in the tube b and would thus be retainedwith-v in the cavity g (as shown by Fig. 5) fromwhich it could not readily be removed to be replaced within the tube b until the attendant opened access to the cavity g by breaking the seal h removing the pin k and then taking away the cover fm, in this manner whenever said ball or sphere f was not in its proper pla'ce within the tube b as shown by Figs. 2 and 3 it would be a clear indication that the apparatus was not in order or that it had been tampered with.

Instead ofthe seal h being employed for securing the pin 7c in position, a padlock or like device arranged to be removable by the proper authorized party alone, might be made use of.

w Such being the nature and object of my in vention what I claim is:

1. The combinationwith an invertible fire extinguisher, of a visible movable element carried thereby and adapted to show, by a change in its position, that the extinguisher has been inverted, va container for the said movable element being erinanently attached to the extinguisher and aving means 'for preventing the return of the movable element to its original position aft-er an inversion ofthe 2. An indicator for an invertible vessel comprising a transparent tube', a spherical body movable freely nuthin said tube, bearings for said tube, a trap receptacle at one end of 'said tube, .and means whereby access is afforded to said receptacie.

3. An indicator tor an invertible vessel,-

comprising e.' transparent tube, e spherical he spherical body at one end of the tube, a,

body movable freely Within said tube, bearins for said tube, a, trap receptacle for the sp erical body at one end of the tube, a. cover for said' receptacle and sealed means for securing said cover in lposition, substantially as herein specified.

4. An indicator for en invertible vessel i comprising a. transparent tube, a spherical body movable Within said tube, bearings for said tube, a, tmp receptacle formed to receive i cover for said receptaele and aiook device for secunng sind cover 1n posltlon, substantmlly as herein specliied.

- 15 In testimony whereof I have axed my signature in 'presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN LIGHTFOOT.

Witnesses:

. ERNALD SIMPSON MosELEY,

.MALCOLM SMETHURST. 

